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Submitted to: International Journal of Biological Sciences
Publication Type: Review Article Publication Acceptance Date: 2/16/2007 Publication Date: 3/1/2007 Citation: Lunney, J.K. 2007. Advances in Swine Biomedical Model Genomics. International Journal of Biological Sciences. 3:179-184. Interpretive Summary: This review is a summary of my talk at the Swine Genome Workshop at the Plant and Animal Genome Conference 2007 in San Diego, CA, January 13, 2007. The workshop was aimed at defining Advances in Swine Genome Science and Biotechnology. This manuscript highlights the diversity of swine biomedical models and points out the importance of genomics in their continued development. The swine has been used as a major mammalian model for human biomedical studies because of the similarity in size and physiology, and in organ development and disease progression. The pig model allows for deliberately timed studies, imaging of internal vessels and organs using standard human technologies, and collection of repeated peripheral samples and, at kill, detailed mucosal tissues. The model is enhanced because of the basic cloning and transgenic studies so that repeated tests can be performed not only on pigs from the same litter, but on identical clones or gene knockout transgenic pigs. Thus, comparative analyses and genetic mapping will be facilitated. The availability of numerous well defined cell lines, representing a broad range of tissues, further facilitates testing of gene expression, drug susceptibility, etc. Thus the pig is an excellent biomedical model for humans. For genomic applications it is an asset that the pig genome has high sequence and chromosome structure homology with humans. With the swine genome sequence now well advanced there are improving genetic and proteomic tools for these comparative analyses. The review discusses some of the genomic approaches used to probe these models. The review will highlight genomic studies of melanoma and of infectious disease resistance, discussing issues to consider in designing such studies. It ends with a short discussion of the potential for genomic approaches to develop new alternatives for control of the most economically important disease of pigs, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and the potential for applying knowledge gained with this virus for human viral infectious disease studies. Technical Abstract: This manuscript is a short update on the diversity of swine biomedical models and the importance of genomics in their continued development. The swine has been used as a major mammalian model for human studies because of the similarity in size and physiology, and in organ development and disease progression. The pig model allows for deliberately timed studies, imaging of internal vessels and organs using standard human technologies, and collection of repeated peripheral samples and, at kill, detailed mucosal tissues. The ability to use pigs from the same litter, or cloned or transgenic pigs, facilitates comparative analyses and genetic mapping. The availability of numerous well defined cell lines, representing a broad range of tissues, further facilitates testing of gene expression, drug susceptibility, etc. Thus the pig is an excellent biomedical model for humans. For genomic applications it is an asset that the pig genome has high sequence and chromosome structure homology with humans. With the swine genome sequence now well advanced there are improving genetic and proteomic tools for these comparative analyses. The review will discuss some of the genomic approaches used to probe these models. The review will highlight genomic studies of melanoma and of infectious disease resistance, discussing issues to consider in designing such studies. It will end with a short discussion of the potential for genomic approaches to develop new alternatives for control of the most economically important disease of pigs, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) and the potential for applying knowledge gained with this virus for human viral infectious disease studies. |
